chapter 6

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Spoilers for Alyiah and a little bit for Bounce. Thanks again guys for alerts, and reviews!

Gibbs tried not to grind his teeth as he replayed Leon Vance's words in his head.

End Game. Gibbs was too old for games. Diplomacy, ass kissing, something neither he nor Tony were good at when it came to politics. Vance was very adamant about what was about to go down. Gibbs had been through enough with his senior agent the past year. One more mistake on his part, a loss of trust, could push Tony over the edge. Gibbs sighed as he took a step toward Tony's apartment. He raised his hand , knocked and waited.

Tony had arrived home , slamming the door shut behind him, and throwing his sling off his arm. He winced as he tried to remove his jacket, slipping the Armani off gingerly. He sunk deep onto his futon and then attempted to retie the damn thing. After 10 second he realized it was a futile effort on his part so he let it stayed wrapped around his arm like a security blanket instead of a healing aid.

He stared down at his shoes. His mind was no where and everywhere at once. He began to rub his shoes absentmindedly against the hard wood floor causing scuff marks to appear. He found it both disturbing and exhilarating that he didn't care.

He was about to flip on the television when he heard knock on the door. He stood up and inched his way forward cursing himself for not taking pain meds and looked through the peephole.

Damn it. It was Gibbs. Tony sighed and figured it was best to get this over with knowing it had something to do with Vance and Ziva. God what a mess!

Gibbs saw his senior agent carefully open the door, cradling his arm against an untied sling. Momentarily thrown off by the sight of the disheveled man , Gibbs growled.

"What the hell ya doing DiNozzo?"

Tony responded accordingly not bothering to hide his malice.

"Thought the sling wasn't good fashion statement. Might interfere with the next Mossad agent I have to kill. "

Gibbs eyes narrowed slightly.

"Pack your bags."

Tony balked for a moment then burst out laughing.

"Whatever clout you or Vance thinks you may have on me, no one can kick me out of my home. .."

"Tel Aviv. We're going to Tel Aviv."

Tony's eyes softened. "Oh. Wait we? Who's we?"

Gibbs pushed his way past his agent and into the apartment.

"Me, you, Vance and Ziva."

Tony closed his eyes carefully pinching the bridge of his nose.

"OK. What do I need to do."

Gibbs tried to keep busy and he flipped through a GSM magazine Tony had lying about.

"Vance says we have to play the end game. Diplomacy."

Gibbs met Tony's eyes. "He wants you to be the bait."

Tony licked his lips and held his wounded arm closer.

"Sure, why not, right? It's not like this wasn't my fault!"

The last words were shouted just as GIbbs reached out and pulled the sling a bit tighter around his agent's arm.

Tony was seething and bit back the pain as he saw Gibbs begin to tie the sling around his neck gingerly.

Their eyes met. Gibbs knew Tony's anger was just beginning to come forth. THe past month or so he had been walking a fine line and this was the last straw.

"I never said it was your fault, Tony. You know how the game is played."

Green stared at blue and no words were said. The mission was understood.

Tony dropped his eyes to the floor. He was sweating a bit and Gibbs noticed the tension radiating from his body.

"Got any pain meds?"

Tony shook his head. "Can't take any if you want me to find out intel."

He sunk back into the futon with Gibbs resting on the arm of the chair.

"Vance thinks you can do it."

Tony scoffed. "Vance isn't the one being thrown to the wolves."

Gibbs remained stationary and brushed his pant leg smoothing out any creases.

Flashes of a war game gone bad raced through his mind. Harsh words, trust misplaced. Things would be different this time. he turned to face the younger man whose head was face down, shoulders, slumped. Gibbs had to let Tony know he had his six this time.

"I'll be there, watching you. Anything goes wrong, anything then I don't' care what Vance says, I'm pulling you out. Is that understood?"

Tony met his boss's eyes. He saw something there. It was an understanding, a trust that he had in Tony and that Tony had in him. No matter what mistakes were made in their past, they would never lose that trust .

"Understood."

Gibbs smirked and patted Tony's arm gently .

He stood up leaving a confused DiNozzo behind.

"Boss?"

Gibbs tuned to face the younger man.

"What was with the butt slap in Vance' office today? Is it the new head slap? Cause I haven't been getting those much lately and I figured I wasn't getting head slaps because I was getting really good at my job...

*Whump*

Tony froze. He rubbed the back of his head.

Gibbs replied. "Is that better?"

Tony looked weakly up at his mentor.

"I ...guess."

Gibbs shook his head smiling and muttering as he headed to Tony's room to help him pack.

"That's the last time I'll be nice."

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